


Mashed Potatoes

by morningmalarkey



Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-24
Updated: 2017-11-24
Packaged: 2019-02-06 04:04:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12809220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/morningmalarkey/pseuds/morningmalarkey
Summary: Eric is a retail worker, employed by a local supermarket. The last thing he ever expected to see was the famous Markiplier buying copious amounts of instant mashed potatoes.Inspired by Mark's "Mashed Potato Bath Tub"





	Mashed Potatoes

**Author's Note:**

> I was struck with the idea for this after watching Mark's most recent video: "Mashed Potato Bath Tub". I thought, "I wonder what the cashier ringing up Mark would think of all these potatoes?" I then thought, "What if that cashier was a fan?" And then, "What if Mark and the cashier kept running into each other?"
> 
> Thus, you all have this.
> 
> I am inspired by very odd things sometimes.

Eric was not having a good day.

 

He’d woken up late, thus having to skip his daily coffee before work. He’d just missed the bus, sprinting to the stop as his only mode of transportation sped away and out of sight. Once he had finally reached work, nearly an hour late, there were several angry customers, including but not limited to the old woman who didn’t understand how the technology at the check-out counter worked, the angry vegan who saw him sweeping up the floor by the lobster tank and unleashed a massive rant in true Social Justice Warrior fashion, and the screaming children of a tired parent who just hung their head in their hands as their kids wreaked havoc on the store. Of course, Eric had been the one to go clean up all the messes the children had made, as his coworkers decided it a suitable punishment for being late.

 

Overall, it was an extremely shitty day.

 

He eyed the clock as it neared the end of his shift, leaning for a second on the handle of the broom he was using to sweep up a spilled bag of pretzels. Inspecting the floor, he decided he’d done a good enough job, and headed to the utilities closet, throwing out the contents of the dustbin as he went. Eric put the broom back in its usual spot and closed the door, flinching as he faced his boss right outside the closet.

 

“Ryan had to head home early today,” his boss said. “I’m going to need you to cover his shift.” With that, she turned and walked away, not even waiting for an affirmative.

 

Eric ever-so-slowly placed his head in his hands and sighed deeply. Then again, for good measure.

 

-o0o-

 

He was stuck on cashier duty. At least he wasn’t stuck cleaning anymore. Actually, as far as his possible responsibilities went, being one of the cashiers was one of the best, despite it requiring actual human interaction.

 

Eric was shaken out of his train of thought by the loud noise of someone slamming down several boxes on the conveyor belt. Warily glancing over, his eyes widened as he saw not one, or two, or even five boxes of instant mashed potatoes, but at  _ least _ ten. Easily. Whatever madman was buying this many potatoes then proceeded to slam several more boxes down, bringing the total to at least twenty. At least. Then, almost as a garnish to the horrendous sight of this many mashed potatoes, a small box of instant gravy was added.

 

Eric just stared for a few more seconds, taking in the massive towers of boxes of mashed potatoes, before sighing (again. He seemed to be doing that a lot today) and beginning to scan each box. It was three in the morning, and he was tired, ready to go home, and  _ so fed up with the bullshit this job kept throwing at him. _

 

Thirty boxes later (thirty! Who even needs that many potatoes?), the gravy was finally scanned and sent to the bagging area with its numerous companions. Whoever was buying this sheer amount of this one type of food stepped up and swiped their card. Eric read the numbers, and turned to his madman of a customer.

 

“Sir, your total will be…” He trailed off, staring into the eyes of the one and only Markiplier. He stuttered for a second, before deadpanning, “Mark, what the actual fuck.”

 

Mark stared back for a second, before grinning sheepishly. “It’s for a video…” he explained, rubbing the back of his head. Eric just blinked, once, twice, before giving the man his total, and then his change.

 

As Mark walked away, shouting “THANKS!”, his cart full of mashed potatoes, Eric just shook his head and grinned.

 

This day had taken a turn for the better.

 

-o0o-

 

It was a week after Eric had last seen the YouTuber. He’d almost secretly hoped that he might run into Mark again, if only to see what antics the man had gotten into this time. The video Mark had promised the potatoes were for had come out, and Eric had honestly giggled while watching it. It seemed the YouTuber regretted the video as much as Eric had been astonished by the potatoes, and it made for quite the entertaining video.

 

Today, Eric’s day had been much better than the last one. He’d only had a run-in with one angry customer, this time a man who couldn’t find a discontinued brand of mayonnaise. He’d made it to work on time, and it seemed that Ryan would even be here today, so Eric didn’t need to take any extra hours. He was on cashier duty again, ringing up customer after customer, when he was met with a familiar face.

 

It was Mark, again, this time with several bags of balloons. Eric counted at least eight, each containing over 150 balloons, as the bright text on the bags stated in an obnoxious font. Eric just laughed again, and rung the YouTuber up, this time not even bothering to say anything. Mark nodded to him before he left, seeming to recognize the retail worker, and Eric nodded back, uttering the standard “Have a nice day!”

 

“You too!” Mark shouted back.

 

Eric sat back in his chair at the cash register, smiling. He wondered what kind of video those balloons would be used for.

 

-o0o-

 

The next time Eric ran into Mark, he was actually just cleaning up a mess made by a customer dropping an entire box of blueberries in the produce aisle. He’d straightened up as he finished sweeping, holding a dustpan full of dirty blueberries. Over a stand, he saw Mark again, grabbing several bags of tomatoes, all of which seemed to be bruised or otherwise tainted. He waved, and Mark waved back, before getting recognized by another fan and becoming sidetracked in selfies and greetings.

 

Eric just grinned and carried his dustbin to the trash can.

 

-o0o-

 

Eric kept running into Mark after that, be it checking him out at the counter or just happening to be cleaning as the YouTuber walked by. Almost every time, Mark was holding an extreme amount of some oddly specific product. One time it was about twenty boxes of Cheez-its. Another, ten blocks of tofu. The oddest, and probably the one that was the most funny, was the time that Mark sprinted past Eric as the retail worker swept up a mess, clutching a bunch of baguettes in his arms as Ethan ran after him, pelting Mark with bagels.

 

Eric  _ still  _ wasn’t sure why, actually.

 

As time went on, Mark and Eric became more and more familiar, recognizing each other at a single glance. While that wasn’t much of a change for Eric, what with Mark being Internet Famous and all, it was still rather nice to be seen and recognized by someone, and it was truly a mark of how much the two seemed to see each other at random moments.

 

One time, a few months after their initial interaction, Eric was actually shopping elsewhere. He’d needed to find a gift for a close friend of his, and said close friend enjoyed clothes, especially as gifts. (A tad bit odd in Eric’s opinion, but whatever made his friend happy. It was their birthday, after all.) As such, he was at the local mall, just generally browsing through the racks of shiny jackets and Hawaiian shirts.

 

As Eric plucked a particularly nice Hawaiian shirt off the rack (it was covered in parrots), he heard several familiar voices. Peeking out from behind the clothes rack he had been browsing in, he saw Mark and Tyler, spinning in circles, seemingly lost. He walked out from behind the rack, waving hello to Mark.

 

“Oh, hey man!” the YouTuber greeted enthusiastically. Tyler waved a ‘hello’ as well, though he seemed slightly confused as to who exactly Eric was. Mark nudged Tyler.

 

“This is the cashier I told you guys about!” With that, realization dawned on Tyler’s face. 

 

“Nice to meet you,” he said, offering another polite wave.

 

“What are you guys looking for?” Eric asked, holding the Hawaiian shirt over his shoulder.

 

Mark grinned.

 

“We need ten feather boas.”


End file.
